


this is the crooked path (i think that i was meant to be next to you)

by reachedthebitterend



Series: changing the past [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 07:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20205886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachedthebitterend/pseuds/reachedthebitterend
Summary: Alex tells Michael the truth about everything, well, almost everything.





	this is the crooked path (i think that i was meant to be next to you)

**Author's Note:**

> written on 06/14/19

Alex leans in and presses a kiss to Michael’s shoulder, while sliding his hand down Michael’s chest and stops right on top of the quivering muscles of his stomach.

“If you want to go again,” Michael says voice low and thick. “Then you’re gonna have to give me a few minutes.”

Alex licks his lips and leans in a bit closer, moving his mouth to Michael’s ear and sliding his hand a little lower.

“Minutes?” He asks curiously, because he knows Michael’s refractory period is way less than that.

Michael moans low in his throat and Alex feels the vibrations with his mouth, pressing his lips to the skin of Michael’s throat, and nuzzling him.

Michael’s hand slides up his back. “You’re not playing fair.”

“I never said I would,” Alex whispers into his skin, as he slides his hand lower.

Michael’s right hand halts his process and Alex smiles into Michael’s neck before he pulls away and moves so that he’s leaning on his chin on his hand and looking down at Michael.

Michael licks his lips and opens his mouth to speak, when a lights starts shining in Alex’s face, making him blink rapidly as he looks for the source, to see the sun reflecting off of the pieces of the alien console that Michael has scattered all over his desk.

Alex wonders how he didn’t notice that the first time that he was here, and then remembers that the first time he walked in here, Michael had been finishing packing his things to move.

Michael moves to see what’s caught Alex’s attention, and Alex feels the way that he freezes minutely, before his hands are reaching for Alex, coaxing him down.

Alex lets Michael pull him into a kiss, but pulls away before they could get too distracted.

Alex isn’t really sure when exactly Max is supposed to heal Liz and blow their secret wide open, and he’s almost positive it already happened since the reports of the power surge by the Crashdown last night, but there’s a lot to talk about and Alex is one hundred percent positive that Michael isn’t going to believe him at first.

“We have to talk,” he says looking at Michael, and sees the way that his eyes lose all their warmth, and how he tenses up against Alex, as though he’s preparing himself for a blow.

“Okay,” Alex says leaning up again to give Michael some space. “It’s not about this, between us. I know where I stand, but you might change your mind when-”

“From where I stand, nothing’s changed.” Michael interrupts him looking at Alex seriously. “I don’t just let anyone in here, you know?”

Alex swallows hard and decides that the best approach is just to rip the bandaid off.

“Yeah, I figured you’d hide the pieces of your alien ship better if just anyone could walk in here.”

Michael flinches as though Alex hit him, and gives Alex a wide eyed scared look that lasts for one tenth of a second, before the mask slips over his face, but it’s enough for Alex to know he struck a nerve even if he _hadn’t _known the truth.

“What?” He asks giving Alex what would pass as an incredulous look, if Alex hadn’t seen that moment of panic, his hands falling from Alex’s neck as though trying to put some distance between them.

Alex clenches his jaw and looks away. “Maybe we should get dressed-” he starts, trying to push himself up, but Michael’s hands reach out and stop him, turning Alex to face him again.

“What are you talking about, Alex?”

“I know, Guerin.” He says looking at him and willing him to understand.

Michael pulls his bottom lip into his mouth, and then swallows hard. “How-?”

“Massive government conspiracy,” Alex says.

Michael huffs out a laugh, looking away from Alex and rolling his eyes, before he looks back.

Alex raises an eyebrow at him.

“You’re serious?” Michael asks him face losing all of its amusement.

Alex inhales deeply and thinks ripping off a bandaid.

“That project my father continued despite being told to shut it down was called, Project Shepherd created back in 1947 to cover up all evidence of the UFO crash.”

Michael’s eyes go wide and shocked and he swallows hard and then lets Alex go.

“Maybe we should get dressed.”

***

Alex sits on Michael’s bed in his boxers and one of Michael’s t-shirts. Michael had pulled on his jeans and had grabbed a full bottle of acetone.

Alex watches him as he leans against the counter and tips the bottle into his mouth.

Alex just stares at him, waiting for an _actual _response.

Michael lowers the bottle and swallows hard.

“So your father-” he starts.

“My entire family,” Alex reiterates.

Michael rolls his eyes a little. “Okay, your entire family, knows that I’m-”

“No, they don’t know about you,” Alex says shaking his head and looking down at his hands, on his lap and sighing. “There’s more than just my family hunting yours for generations.”

“I don’t care about that,” Michael says, voice blase.

Alex straightens up, shaking his head again. “Of course you don’t. You didn’t last time either.”

There is silence for a few seconds before Alex feels Michael sitting down next to him.

Michael’s fingers press lightly against Alex chin, and Alex turns his face to look at him.

“Last time?”

Alex tilts his head at Michael. “What do you think about time travel?”

“Theoretically possible,” Michael says immediately letting his hand drop from Alex’s face.

"And if I told you that when I woke up from my coma after losing my leg that I was in the past and know what’s going to happen the next couple of months, what would you say?” Alex asks turning to face him.

“That you’re crazy?” he says with a smirk, mirroring Alex’s movements, his knee bumping against Alex’s.

Alex licks his lips and nods his head, “Okay. So when Max heals Liz-” he starts and sees the way that Michael freezes looking at him with wide eyes.

“So that definitely already happened then?”

Michael just keeps looking at him.

“Okay, well, Kyle is going to see the glowing handprint, and in the letters his dad had sent him before he died, he told him if he saw the handprint to go to Manes. Which he did and got himself involved in a massive government conspiracy. But when he refused to give up any information, my father found someone else to blackmail, and they told him to look into Max after the massive power outage and his strange behavior during the investigation of Grant Green’s murder. I managed to shut him down before he could actually confirm it though, but he did have the three of you under surveillance.”

Alex stops speaking and looks at Michael who is still looking at him with wide eyes, and only moves when Alex stops. He blinks a few times and inhales deeply before he leans forward and presses the back of his hand to Alex’s forehead.

Alex rolls his eyes. “Even if I did have a fever, you’d probably think that it was normal, given the fact that your body temperature is higher than human average.”

Michael lets his hand fall back down and he pulls his lower lip into his mouth looking away from Alex, before looking back at him. “Liz doesn’t even have the handprint yet. It doesn’t appear until twenty-four hours later.”

“So Kyle finds out tonight, then.” Alex says going over the timeline in his head. “And he’ll find out about the dishonorable discharge, and probably come to me.”

“Wait,” Michael says, and Alex focuses back on him and sees that he’s scratching his head, a confused look on his face. “If that’s how your father finds out about us, then how do you-?”

“I told you,” Alex says patiently. “I know what’s going to happen the next couple of months. Because I lived through it.”

Michael licks his lips and narrows his eyes. “So you changed the past?”

Alex raises an eyebrow. “If you went back in time, armed with the knowledge of what’s going to happen, in time to change everything, would you just make the same mistakes or would you fix it?”

“That should be impossible,” Michael says. “Time is fluid yes, but you can’t change the past. It’s already happened.”

“The past is happening for me right now,” Alex points out, and Michael gives him a look like he can’t believe what Alex is saying. “And I refuse to make the same mistakes. What’s the point of this, if I just do everything the same way again?”

Michael narrows his eyes at that, and seems to hear exactly what Alex isn’t saying. “What about us?”

Alex swallows hard and looks away. “I made plenty of mistakes, and walked away one too many times. But I stopped, and I like to think that we were finding our way back to each other when I woke up back in the hospital, but-”

He trails off and shakes his head, and then turns back to Michael, who is looking at him with guarded eyes as though he’s trying to figure out what to say.

“Too many things happened that were out of my control then, but they aren’t now, and I’m not going to walk away again, so it’s really up to you to decide if you want to be with me or not, especially considering-”

Alex inhales deeply and finishes. “Maria.”

Michael’s brow furrows in confusion. “What about Maria?”

Alex pulls his lip into his mouth, and looks at Michael, studying his face, he looks genuinely confused and not like he’s hiding something.

Alex feels a pang in his chest at the thought that it really was his actions, him pushing Michael away one too many times that lead him directly into Maria’s arms.

"I know you like her, Guerin.”

Michael huffs out a laugh, “Yeah? She’s alright. Keeps letting me back into the bar even though she keeps banning me for life and lets me exchange my services for free booze which makes her my best friend. Though don’t tell her that because I’m sure she’ll stop if she knew I considered her a friend.”

Alex looks away and Michael makes a noise in the back of his throat, before he’s leaning forward and once again, places his fingers lightly against Alex’s chin, turning his face back to Michael’s.

Alex blinks fast, but can’t hide his wet eyes.

Michael studies his face for a long moment, and Alex doesn’t know if he’s searching for, but sees the way that his eyes soften, and he leans forward a bit, licking his lips.

“You mean more than friends?” He asks, and Alex doesn’t answer, but Michael doesn’t seem to need one.

“I won’t lie to you and say that I’ve never thought about it,” and he moves his hand to the back of Alex’s neck, when Alex twitches, as though to keep him still. “But first of all, I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t like me like that and second of all, why would I want to be with anyone else, when you’re here, offering me everything that I’ve wanted from you since we were kids?”

Alex chews on his lip, “What if she did like you like that? Would you-?”

“Do you want me to try-?” Michael starts asking, his hands falling down to his lap as he moves back, giving Alex some space.

“No!” Alex interrupts him fast and shakes his head. “I just don’t want you to be with me only because you think I’m your only option.”

Michael gives him an incredulous look.

“Alex,” he says and waits for Alex to look him in the eyes to continue speaking. “Not only do I know that you’re not my only option, I also know that you aren’t the easiest one either. And not because you’re a guy. It wasn’t a secret that the Manes Men are all airmen. I wasn’t only asking about your sexuality when I asked you if the rumors were all true.”

Alex swallows hard at that.

Michael exhales roughly, and leans forward again. “This whole conversation is insane you know?”

Alex sighs. “Yeah, I know.”

“And I’m not one hundred percent sure I believe you.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I figured.”

“But I trust you, Alex.”

Alex’s eyes snap to Michael’s.

“You’re the only person who ever made me feel like I could belong here, on this planet.”

He smiles, and Alex pulls his lip into his mouth so that he doesn’t mirror him helplessly.

“I would wait another ten years if that’s what it took for you to be ready,” he continues, reaching out once again and pulling Alex in, pressing their foreheads together.

Alex exhales shakily.

“You said you kept pushing me away, and yeah, that would hurt, a lot. Maybe enough to need to stay away, because I do know what my limits are, but it wouldn’t be forever. I love you,” his voice goes so low at the last three words that Alex barely hears him, but he does, and it makes him feel dizzy, heart trying to beat out of his chest.

“I probably always will,” he continues. “So, even if everything goes exactly the same way that you dreamt-”

He opens his eyes and looks straight into Alex’s eyes. “I would never look away. Not really.”

Alex makes a sound low in his throat and reaches for Michael, sliding his fingers into his hair. “I love you, and I won’t _ever _look away, Guerin.”

Michael kisses him then, pushing forward and pressing their mouths together hard.

Alex kisses him back, pulling him in close.

Then Michael starts smiling too hard to actually kiss him back, and Alex bites against his lip in admonishment.

“Sorry,” he says and presses their noses together looking into Alex’s eyes.

“Don’t be,” Alex says closing his eyes.

He breathes in deeply and then pulls away a little, opening his eyes to see Michael’s smile fall a little.

“There is one more thing-” he starts and then there is a knock on the door.

“Michael,” Isobel says sounding impatient. “This better be good! I had to ask Noah to watch Max!”

She knocks on the door even harder and Alex pulls away from Michael with another sigh, looking for his pants.

“I kind of called out accidentally,” Michael says, letting Alex go reluctantly and heading towards the door. “We have a-”

“Psychic connection,” Alex says interrupting him. “I know.”

Michael stills, and gives him a look. “What else do you know, exactly?”

Alex finds his pants and gets to his feet, only stumbling slightly as he turns to quickly.

“Alex-”

“Everything,” Alex says, emphasizing the word as much as he can while he grabs his pants.

He hears Michael inhale sharply and then go to open the door.

Alex hears Isobel and then the door closes as Michael responds something too low for Alex to hear.

Alex exhales and tries not to get his hopes up too high, but it’s impossible not to.

That went much better than he’d been expecting.

He just hopes that Michael will still feel the same after he hears about Caulfield.


End file.
